Public support for CEO activism on social issues continues to slip, surveys show

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

A review of two new surveys on corporate and CEO activism, published in ABA Banking Journal, tracks shifting public attitudes toward companies speaking out on social and political issues. For bank leadership and communications teams, the data bears on reputational risk management around public statements.

• Approximately 55% of Americans believe CEOs should be outspoken on issues, down from 65% in 2018, per Stanford/Hoover research.
• The Bentley-Gallup survey found the share believing businesses should be more vocal on controversial issues ticked down to 47% in 2026.
• 76% of Americans said they would be less likely to purchase from a company whose CEO spoke out on a disagreeable issue, up 14 percentage points from 2018.
• 62% of respondents could name a product or service they use less because of disagreement with a CEO's public stance, versus 40% who use one more for that reason.
• Issues with lowest public support for business statements were religion (16%), abortion (22%), political endorsements (23%) and international conflicts (33%).

Executive summary

ABA Banking Journal editor Evan Sparks reviews two recent surveys on public attitudes toward CEO and corporate activism. Research from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hoover Institution found that approximately 55% of Americans believe CEOs should be…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.